“The Rite” by Matt Baglio – The Dark Side of Faith

The Rite by Matt Baglio, also made into a movie with Anthony Hopkins, is a harrowing and yet captivating look into the darker side of the Christian faith, namely, exorcism. The book’s author, Baglio, is actually a journalist who followed Father Gary Thomas from California all the way to the Vatican, where he was trained in the rite of exorcism. 

In other words, this is a book where Baglio basically chronicles what it is like to become an exorcist, digging deep into an aspect of religion most of us know best through Hollywood fantasies.

First off, if you are looking for undisputable confirmation that the devil exists and that demonic possessions do in fact happen, then I am sorry to say that it really isn’t the point of the book. It is more about the mindset and thoughts of those who are trained to become exorcists, the Church’s approach to the process, and the thoughts of someone who has performed dozens of exorcisms. What I found rather surprising is the difference between how we depict the Church to act in cases of exorcism and how they actually proceed. 

The Rite by Matt Baglio (Book cover)
For example, they do everything to rule out mental illness through psychological and psychiatric evaluations and the exorcists themselves are far from being superstitious. In addition, there are detailed observations of what the Priest and the victim feel during an exorcism, something very few have been able to provide up until this point.

All in all, Baglio’s The Rite is a sort of debunking of what we think the Church believes and what it teaches, aiming to show us that in reality, exorcism is much more grounded in reality than we believe and is necessary to the proper functioning of Christianity in the modern age.

Everything is presented from a purely objective point of view, with there being no bias one way or the other. Baglio simply observes events, writes them down, and shares his personal interpretation. Anyone who is interested in demonology and the Church should definitely have a read through this book, as I’m sure it will change your perspective on a lot of things, as it happened with me.

Matt Baglio (Author)

Matt Baglio


Personal site

Matt Baglio is a young author with already a bestselling book under his belt, The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist. His one true goal, in regards to literature at least, is to bring the unaltered truth to his readers in regards to the spiritual questions which plague us all.



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